GULF SHORES, Ala. — The last phase of the city’s branding and wayfinding initiative will entail more than $1 million worth of new signs around the city, if approved by the City Council on Monday.

Planning Director Andy Bauer recommended the city accept a bid from Color-Ad Advertising and Signs out of Manassas, Va. Three other companies, including Modern Signs of Orange Beach, submitted bids. Even though Color-Ad’s was the highest, Bauer felt they were the best company for the job.

“Our review determined that one company met the qualifications,” Bauer told the council on Monday during a work session. “They have municipal wayfinding fabrication and installation experience. I’ve talked to them personally and Todd Mayfield, our wayfinding designer, talked with them personally and talked with their references.

“So far all of the four references have had glowing remarks about how easy they are to work with, they are on time, they are on budget. A lady with the National Park Service who they had a term contract with loved them. I’ve got a great feeling about them and I think they will be a good fit.”

Others submitted bids were Bill Ortwein Signs of Chattanooga with a bid of $1.044 million, Knight Sign Industries of Tuscaloosa with a bid of $664, 058 and Modern Signs bid of $1.084 was the highest.

Color-Ad actually submitted two bids, one an alternate which was accepted. Its first bid was more than $1.1 million. If approved, the project payment will phased in during three years with the first installment of $303,000 to come out of the 2013 budget.

Great Destination Strategies of Seattle, Wash., and Total Destination Marketing of Tualatin, Ore., started the branding and wayfinding initiative in 2011. The firms did preliminary work with members of the community through focus groups and other meetings. The city approving hiring the firm in June 2011 at a budgeted cost of $200,000.

Bauer said the final tally was closer to $150,000 which included new city branding which paid for the design of the new logo and a plan for wayfinding signs.

On June 29, 2012 the city unveiled its new logo and colors during a ceremony at the public beach. The final stage will be new and improved signs.

Councilwoman Carolyn Doughty asked if the signs would match up with the city’s new logos, designs and color from the branding effort.

“What will happen is, we will work together on it during the initial phases,” Bauer said. “Anything that they manufacture will have to be reviewed and approved by Todd Mayfield. I believe he’s even going to go up and visit their manufacturing facility, they will submit samples to Todd and we will also get samples to make sure they are doing it in the correct way.”

Mayfield’s experience in the field will be a big plus and Bauer said several of the bidders were impressed with his work.

“Several of the bidders said what a great job Todd did because they could tell he was not just a sign designer, but he had some fabrication in his background,” Bauer said. “We don’t always agree on everything, but overall he’s very good at what he does.”

In the end, Bauer said Color-Ad’s experience working with cities and other government entities swayed him to recommend its bid be accepted.

“Three of the four, I could not determine that any of them had any municipal wayfinding fabrication and installation experiences,” Bauer said. “They had built more like business signs for people. Not an overall program where they come in and do all the signs for a large contract. That is one of the main reasons we also chose Color-Ad.

“One of the comments I got about Color-Ad was they were always coming up with better ways to do things that saved money a lot of times,” he said. “I was very, very pleased with the references that I got.”

The city is scheduled to begin talks with the state to get agreements on using rights of way along state roads for the new signs.

“It’s a cooperative maintenance agreement between the City of Gulf Shores and the Alabama Department of Transportation as it relates to our wayfinding signs in the ALDOT right of way,” Bauer told the City Council last month. “We just need to pass a resolution adopting this agreement and send it to ALDOT for their requirements so we can get going.”

Bauer says he’s not asking for rights of way on any certain areas or places, but just wants to get the general OK for placing signage.

According to a memo Bauer presented to the council, Color-Ad has performed large and small budget wayfinding signage projects for Charlottesville, Va., the National Mall in Washington, DC, Hillsborough, N.C., Coppell, Texas, the University of Kentucky and the National Park Service among others.